Publisher Heavy Metal has announced the launch of a new creator-owned imprint, Magma Comix, to be lead by Denton J. Tipton, formerly the managing editor at IDW Publishing.
According to an article at THR, Heavy Metal CEO Matthew Medney had originally intended to discuss editorial work on a specific project, but after a two-hour conversation, Medney had become convinced that Tipton needed to be brought into the Heavy Metal family. The solution: Magma Comix.
It has been an eventful year for Tipton. After working for IDW Publishing for more than a decade, Tipton was promoted to Managing Editor at IDW in November 2019. However, on May 20th, 2020, Tipton announced on Twitter that after being placed on furlough due to COVID-19, he would not be returning to IDW.
Hope this finds you and your family healthy and safe.
As some of you may know, I’ve been on furlough for the past month.
Since word has begun to leak, I’m making it public that I will not return to IDW Publishing.
— Denton J. Tipton (@dentontipton) May 20, 2020
Meanwhile, Magma Comix embodies the latest expansion for Heavy Metal, which has undergone plenty of evolution over the past year. In December 2019, Medney was named new CEO of Heavy Metal Magazine.
In May 2020, Heavy Metal launched another imprint, Virus, which is aimed toward maintaining comics publishing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Then in June 2020, Joseph P. Illidge was promoted to executive editor for the publisher.
And just last month, in September 2020, Heavy Metal announced that Geoff Boucher would be hosting Mindspace, a podcast based around celebrity and creator interviews, which joined scripted sci-fi story WonderWerk in the publisher’s new podcast division, part of a fruitful collaboration with DIGA Studios.
Heavy Metal’s new imprint, Magma Comix, is meant to be a home for “sophisticated genre fiction,” and so far, three titles have been announced: two five-issue series and a graphic novel.
First up is Chasing the Dragon by Tipton, menton3, and Gil Lazcano is scheduled to have the first of five issues published on February 24th, 2021.
Next is the graphic novel Amber Blake by Jade Lagardère, Butch Guice, Dan Brown, and Lazcano, which will be released on March 31st, 2021.
And the third title, The Modern Frankenstein by Paul Cornell, Emma Vieceli, Pippa Bowland, and Simon Bowland, will have the first of five issues published on April 28th, 2021.
Which titles are you most looking forward to from Heavy Metal? Have you checked out any of the comics in the Virus imprint? Let us know in the comment section!
